Tag Archives: LPGA

Chevron Championship – 1st LPGA Major of 2026

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This week, April 23 to 26, is the first major for the LPGA at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston Texas. I’m always excited for any major in golf but I have to admit that I still wish this championship was in Mission Hills with Poppy’s Pond. However, when Chevron took over sponsorship, it became obvious the location would move to Texas. So let’s focus on 2026.

New Location for 2026

This is a new location for the championship in Texas. In the past three years, after the move from Mission Hills, the championship was at Carlton Woods in the Woodlands. If you watched the 2025 broadcast it was shocking how few fans were at the championship. The new location, Memorial park is closer to Houston and also hosts the PGA Tour event, Texas Children’s Houston Open; which was won by Gary Woodland this year. Clearly Chevron and the LPGA are hoping to increase fan engagement so that this event will actually feel like a major.

2026 Contenders

(1) #1 Player in the World: Jeeno Thitikul – It’s always an assumption that the number one player in the world will contend at the majors. That player is Jeeno Thitikul. She won the Honda LPGA Thailand in February but since then has a T31, T14, T50, T17 so not sure what her form is going into Chevron.

(2) #2 Player in the World : Nelly Korda – In 2024 Nelly Korda was the #1 player in the world and dominating the women’s game. Korda had seven LPGA victories; including winning the Chevron Championship.

In 2025 Korda lost her world #1 status and had zero wins in 19 events. It was well documented that Korda was dealing with a neck injury and took quite a bit of time off to recover.

Korda started off 2026 with a win at the first LPGA event and then took six weeks off (skipping the “asia swing” of the LPGA season). After her “break,” in the next three LPGA events, Korda finished second, second, and a tie for second. So I would say Korda with a win and three 2nd place finishes in four events is a nice start for her competitive eason.

Korda has taken the week before the first major off. Korda has made it very clear that she will play less events this year and not play more than four events in a row. Some in the press have criticized her for missing the “asia swing” of the tour but my opinion is she has a right to protect her body.

(3) Two Time WInners in 2026: Two players have won twice in 2026.

Hanna Green – Australia, Hanna Green, is having a great start to her 2026 season and won the JM Eagle LA Championship (the week before the Chevron). It was impressive because Green was six shots back and won in a playoff. Not only has she won two LPGA events but also has won twice on the Ladies European Tour (LET) this year.

Hyo Joo Kim – Hyo Joo Kim came out firing in 2026. She had back-to-back wins in February and it looked like she was going to have a “Korda 2024 year.” However the streak died quickly and she hasn’t been a big presence in recent events.

My Prediction:

There are a host of other players that are playing well including American Lauren Coughlin; and of course fan favorites like Charlie Hull and Lydia Ko. You cannot count out the young new LPGA stars like Lottie Woad of England or one of the IWIA sisters from Japan. Given that in 2025 the LPGA had 29 different winners (an LPGA record) and no truly dominant player; it’s hard to predict a winner for Chevron.

Yes, I said it is hard to pick a winner but what fun would it be not to try. I will go with Nelly Korda. First, I’m hoping her new plan to create a schedule that keeps her healthy works. Second, the fact she has won or come in 2nd in the four events she has played in this year can’t be ignored. It doesn’t appear that she is “rusty” after the breaks she takes from competitive golf. Of course, I have no idea what her form is and if we go off form, then you would have to say that Hanna Green has all the momentum to win the first major.

Of course, I picked Scottie Scheffler to win the Masters and said there was no way Rory would win back-to-back (in my defense, if I had known Rory spend the three weeks before the Masters playing Augusta National every week I may have had a different opinion). Bottom line, I would not bet money on my prediction. However, let’s hope I get the first major winner for the LPGA correct in 2026.

Stipends Paid to Golfers that Miss the Cut at Major Championships

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Unlike regular golf tour tournaments, players that miss the cut at a major championship actually get paid. The majors do not call it prize money but rather a stipend to help offset the cost of participating in a major.

Here is a break down of the stipends from 2025 by Major (organization running the championship):

Men’s Championships

(1) The Masters (Augusta National) – $25,000 (increase from $10,000 in previous years). This was the stipend last week (in 2026).

(2) The PGA Championship (PGA of America) – $4,000 (increased from $3,200 in 2021)

(3) The U.S. Open (USGA) – $10,000 (I know this was the amount as far back as 2014).

(4) The Open (R&A) – A sliding scale is used by the R&A; with the first 10 getting $12,350, 11-20 getting $10,300, and the rest of the players that missed the cut getting $8,750

Women’s Championship

(1) Chevron Championship (LPGA) – $10,000

(2) U.S. Women’s Open (USGA) – $10,000 (increased from $4,000 in 2024)

(3) KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (PGA of America) – $4,000

(4) AIG British Women’s Open (R&A) – $4,000

(5) Amundi Evian Championship (LPGA/LET) – $3,000

My source for all the amounts of stipends in 2025 were from Golfweek and Thegolfnews.net (which confirmed the same amounts so I have confidence that they are correct numbers).

I would not be surprised if we see increases to these amounts in 2026 or in the coming years. History has shown that if one major increases a purse or stipend that other majors will follow with an increase.

This might not seem like a big deal for the stars of the tours who can afford the expense (e.g., renting homes at the majors, etc); but for the journeymen golf professionals it is a wonderful benefit for the players that qualify to play in a major championship.

Finally, if you are wondering, Amateurs are not eligible for the stipend.

Women’s Golf – Top Five LPGA Player Moments in 2024

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If you are a fan of golf or like watching golf and you don’t watch the women play you are truly missing out on great entertainment.

Here are my top five for women’s golf in 2024

These players had big years and/or big events:

(1) Nelly Korda – The #1 player in the women’s world rankings had an incredible start to 2024. She won six out of her first seven starts on tour; five wins in a row and one won the first major of the year. And Korda, after not playing because of a “minor neck injury” comes back in November and wins the “The Annika driven by Gainbridge at Pelican.” Of note, no LPGA golfer has had six or more wins in a season since 2013 when Inbee Park had six wins.

So it is no surprise that Korda won player of the year in 2024.

(2) Lauren Caughlin – a journey woman on the LPGA tour had the year of her professional life in 2024. Caughlin is 31 years old and has been on tour since 2018. In July, winning the Canadian Women’s Open was her first tour win in 103rd starts on tour. One month later she won the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open.

Caughlin with her excellent play met a personal goal to qualify for The Solheim Cup that was contested in her home state of Virginia just an hour from her home. The pressure of playing for a home town crowd and as a rookie on the biggest stage in women’s golf could have been too much for some golfers but not Caughlin. She showed up to the Solheim and once again had the “week of her professional life” winning all three of her team matches and garnering a tie for her singles match. This is a stellar record for a “rookie” Solheim Cup member.

(3) Lydia Ko

Ko had pressure all year with the golf analysts constantly asking will this be the tournament that Ko wins and get’s the one point she needs to enter the LPGA Hall of Fame. The LPGA Hall of Fame has the most difficult criteria of all sports hall of fame (it’s not voted on, it’s all points); requiring 27 points.

Per the LPGA website the criteria is:

1. Must have won/been awarded at least one of the following – an LPGA major championship, the Vare Trophy or Rolex Player of the Year honors; and2. 

2.Must have accumulated a total of 27 points, which are awarded as follows – one point for each LPGA official tournament win, two points for each LPGA major tournament win and one point for each Vare Trophy or Rolex Player of the Year honor earned.3. 

3. One point for an Olympic gold medal

Per Golf Digest, “Ko is a 15-time winner, including two majors and three season-ending awards. She earned 70 percent of her 20 points in two years—2019 and 2021.”

Her quest for the LPGA Hall of Fame was a storybook ending when she won the Gold Medal at the Olympics; and giving her the point she needed to be in the LPGA Hall of Fame.

(4) Rose Zhang – Zhang was the most decorated player in women’s amateur golf; including winning back-to-back NCAA Individual National Championships and winning the August National Women’s Amateur in April 2023. Zhang held the position of the #1 female amateur golfer in the world for over two-and-a-half years (or 141 weeks at #1).

In May 2023, Zhang turns Pro and she wins her first LPGA tour event at the Cognizant Founders Cup (she is the player that stopped Nelly Korda’s win streak of five wins in a row). After that 2023 was rather quiet and she did not perform well at the Solheim Cup in Spain with two ties and a loss.

In early 2024 she seemed to still be missing that spark but the spark caught on fire at the Solheim Cup in the USA. Zhang won all four matches. And she is the only player in Solheim history to win all four matches and never have to play the final holes (17 and 18). There have only been eight players to have a 4-0-0 record at a Solheim Cup and only two other American’s have achieved this accomplishment (Dottie Pepper in 1998 and Morgan Pressel in 2011). Zhang also won 28 holes only lost 8; no player has been that dominant in the last 20 years.

It’s worth noting the scores for Zhang’s four matches: She won 3&2, 3&2, 5&4, and her singles match was 6&4 (ending her match against Carlota Ciganda on the 14th hole).

(4) Soleim Cup Players – The 2024 Solheim Cup was everything a golf fan wants in a competition – great play and a competition that goes down to the end; which is stressful but fun to watch. The USA won 15 1/2 points to Europe 12 1/2 points.

The points don’t tell the whole story but for those that don’t normally follow match play. The current holder of the Solheim Cup (Europe) only needed 14 to maintain possession and the USA needed 14 1/2 points to win (take possession) of the cup. The last meeting (2023 in Spain) of the teams was heart braking because the teams tied (14 points each) therefore Europe “won” because they won the cup in the previous meeting in 2021 in Ohio at Inverness.

Along with Rose Zhang, Khang (3-0-0), Coughlin (3-0-1) and Andrea Lee (2-0-1) were the other Americans to go undefeated (since they tied and did not lose one match). It is the second time the U.S. team had that many undefeated players at one Solheim Cup.

So do yourself a favor and watch the LPGA in 2025.

Olympic Golf Course: How It Played, Day One – Men’s vs Women’s Events

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One of the interesting things about golf is that the same course can play so differently day to day due to weather, which tees you play, and pin placement. The Olympics are a great example of the how differently a course can play and how important course setup (by the tournament officials) is to the competition. Course setup this week is the responsibility of Kerry Haigh (who’s regular day job is PGA of America’s Chief Championships Officer, setting up courses for the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup).

Another unique aspect with back-to-back men’s and women’s competitions is the added issue of “comparison.” It’s only natural that viewers will compare how the men and women play and so course setup is critical. As a female golfer and fan of women’s golf, the last thing I want to see is viewers assuming the men “are better” than the women because they don’t understand course conditions or course setup.

The course was setup for the men as a Par 71 (at 7,174 yards) and for the women a Par 72 (at 6,374 yards). Obviously the difference is to take into consideration the differences between the men and women. The general difference (stated by many experts in the golf world) is that the men’s game has more power and distance and the women are more accurate . However, some would argue the 6,374 is still a bit long for women. Why? Because on some holes the yardage difference is not enough to allow the women to hit the same club for their approach shot as the men. After a practice round, one of the women French golfer’s said that the male golfer for her country hit an iron into a green and she hit a 3-wood. It is much harder to make a 3-wood land and stop on a green.

I’m sure Haigh wants to make the setup a fair test for both events; but there were a few decisions I found very odd. First, he lowered the rough in the third cut (or the rough well off the fairways) and he did not lower the rough in the first and second cuts. Given that the statistics show the women are more accurate off the tee and less likely to have wild misses, this change makes no sense especially when the argument for lowering the rough is that the women do not have the same wrist strength as the men which is why rough is often cut differently. That logic would say the length should have been changed in all three levels of rough.

The other odd decision (made for the atmosphere of the opening hole) was a last minute decision (the day before the start of the tournament) to have the women play off the same tees as the men did for the opening hole. The first hole (originally) for the women was stated as 386 yards (then men’s tee set up for 419 yards). As expected having the women play from the men’s tees (419 yards) did now help the women. As one reporter noted for the women golfers, the opening hole “played as the most difficult hole of the first round, averaging more than 0.4 strokes over par and yielding just seven birdies against 24 bogeys or worse.” I understand the desire of the Olympic planners to have a “stadium vibe” but the first tee decision to move the ladies back to the men’s tees clearly hurt the women on day one.

The week the men played, the course was “soft” because it rained every night and that meant the men could go pin seeking (the ball would hit the green and not roll out excessively). There was barely any wind (a major defense of the course) and the air temperature was also relatively mild and it was humid during the week the men played. That made the course “easier” because the men did not face the ball rolling out on the fairway into the rough. There were many holes where the men could just hit a fairway wood to get in a good position in the fairway. This was a big advantage given the men have much greater dispersion (missing the fairway into the deep third rough cut) with driver.

Comparatively the course is playing very differently for the women. Round one the women faced a much firmer course due to no rain, no humidity, and lots of sun shine; plus the wind was starting to become a factor. So when the men could hit 3-woods, the women golfers needed to hit drivers to put themselves in the same position in the fairway for a good approach shot. The result of using drivers meant the women were seeing good shots roll out of the fairway into the rough. They also had fewer opportunities to go pin seeking having to play for the roll out of a long iron (or wood) onto a green. The weather forecast for Saturday (the day of medal play) is 90 plus degrees which will make the course even firmer.

After day one, there are statistics that show the course was harder for the women. For example, the number of players under par on day one were significantly different: Men under par was 41 and women under par was 12. Also the scoring average on day one for the men was 69 and the scoring average for the women was 74. This is not about skill but about how the course was presented to the players (soft vs firm, no wind vs windy, humid vs no humidity in the air, speed of greens, etc.). One analyst, during the broadcast, noted her surprise of many pin placements given the changes in the weather conditions for the women’s event.

These differences made the course more challenging for the women and more challenging for the course setup director Kerry Haigh. It will be interesting to see if Haigh (and other’s involved in course setup) make changes after day one. Will they cut the rough? Will they go back to the original tee selection for the opening hole? Will they change pin locations if the wind picks up? I don’t want to see the setup be so easy it’s a birdie fest but I want the women to have the same approach shot opportunities as the men did last week.

Chevron Championship – LPGA’s First Major of 2024

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Another week and another major – I love Spring!

It’s a good thing that the LPGA moved the first major of the year so there is no conflict with the Augusta National Women’s Amateur or The Masters. Most people over a certain age will remember the first major as the Dinah Shore or the Colgate Dinah Shore, then it became the ANA Inspiration (which was held in Palm Springs) but with the new sponsor came a new venue in Texas at The Club at Carlton Woods, the Woodlands, Houston.

Last year was the first year at the new location and Lilian Vu won in a playoff against Angel Yin. I don’t think Vu is likely to play well enough to defend her title because she has been dealing with back issues. Perhaps if Angel plays well she may have a chance but my money is on the LPGA’s number one player.

Yes, just as I picked the number one player in the world on the men’s side to win The Masters, I am picking the number one female player in the world, Nelly Korda to win the Chevron Championshiop. Korda, like Scheffler, has won multiple times on tour this season.

In fact, if she wins the Chevron that will be five (5) consecutive wins this season. The last player to win five in a row in the same season was Nancy Lopez back in 1975 in her rookie year. The only other LPGA player to win 5 consecutive tournaments is Annika Sorenstam but she did it in two seasons (end of one season and beginning of another season).

The other players I’ll be watching are:

(1) Lydia Ko – if she wins that will give her the final point she needs to be eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame. The most difficult Hall of Fame to get eligibility for based on a point system.

(2) Brooke Henderson – I always cheer for the Canadian star to win.

(3) Rose Zhang – came on tour out of Standford with a bang by winning her first professional tournament but hasn’t done much this season so maybe the first major will be the spark to get the 2nd win.

How to Watch the Chevron Championship

The Golf Channel will show the championship early (10 am – 2 pm and late 6 pm to 8 pm) on Thursday and Friday. And the weekend telecast will be on NBC from Noon to 6 pm.

Both Peacock and ESPN+ will offer steaming of the championship so if you have subscriptions there is an opportunity to see more of the event live.

Below are the dates, times, and options:

Thursday, April 18: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; 6-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/Peacock)
Friday, April 19: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.; 6-8 p.m. ET (Golf Channel/Peacock)
Saturday, April 20: 2-3 p.m. ET (Peacock); 3-6 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock)
Sunday, April 21: 2-3 p.m. ET (Peacock); 3-6 p.m. ET (NBC/Peacock)

PGA Tour and LPGA Tour Pros team up at the Grant Thornton Invitational

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This weekend I watched the inaugural event of the Grant Thornton Invitational which was a joint PGA Tour and LPGA Tour event with 16 teams. I really enjoyed the format of the event and seeing the camaraderie within and among the teams. Not to mention the fact that there was some great golf played.

The format was three days of golf. Day one was a scramble, day two were foursomes (alternate shot), and the final day was a modified four-ball where both players tee off, and then they switch balls for their second shots and play that same ball until it is holed. The lower score of the partners is then counted as the team score for the hole.

There were low scores and great shots. After day one the team of Nelly Korda and Tony Finau were leading, day two Lydia Ko and Jason Day shot 66 to take the lead and although other teams came on strong Lydia Ko made a clutch birdie putt on the 18th hole to win the event for team Ko/Day with a 26 under par.

The Canadian team of Brooke Henderson and Corey Conners finished second moving up the leader board by shooting an impressive 9 under, 63 total. And the Swedish team of Madelene Sagström and Ludvig Åberg shot 12 under to move up six places to finish third.

There were teams that every golf fan could get excited about whether it was because they were representing a fan’s country or whether it was a team with two of the most popular pros on each tour; and they did not disappoint. For example, the team of Lexi Thompson and Rickie Fowler gave the crowd a fun moment at the Par 3, 16th when Lexi made a hole-in-one.

I used to watch a ton of golf on TV but this year I just got turned off by the PGA tour/LIV news and really spend more time watching the LPGA, the Majors, Amateur golf (including college golf); and as I mentioned in a previous post YouTube golfers. I really don’t miss watching the weekly PGA tour events.

This mixed tour event is exactly what professional golf needs and I hope that the Grant Thornton Invitational continues for many years. For me, next year, it will be a must watch golf event.

Crazy Rules Issues at the Amundi Evian Major Championship

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First, Congratulations to Celine Boutier for winning a major in her home country of France. Boutier, is 29 years old, joined the LPGA in 2019. Winning the Evian she jumps from 15 to #4 in the world golf rankings. She became “well-known” with LPGA fans because of her performance at the 2019 Solheim Cup at Gleneagles in Scotland as a standout on the European team with a 4-0-0 record.

Set aside Boutier’s win by six strokes and what else was news worthy at the 4th major of the year for the LPGA – the crazy rules issues that happened.

Rules Issue – Slow Play and Signing an Incorrect Scorecard

Carlota Cinganda from Spain received a 2-stroke (general penalty) for slow play on Friday. Cinganda’s group was given a warning, then put on the clock (which is the standard procedure after a warning if the group doesn’t get back in position with the group in front of them). So she was well aware that she was being timed; and ultimately she was deemed to be over the allotted time. She protested the ruling stating the penalty was on her last hole, her last putt and there was no way she took as long as the rules official stated. Cinganda was denied a reversal and the 2-stroke penalty was final.

The big headlines on social media implied that she was disqualified (DQ) for slow play; which was very misleading. She was DQed because she chose not to add the 2-stroke penalty to her scorecard and signed her scorecard without the penalty; thus signed an incorrect scorecard, with a lower score, see Rule 3.3b(3), which is what triggered the disqualification.

This penalty had a big impact on Cingada because without the 2-stroke penalty she was on the cut line and probably would have made the weekend; but with the 2-stroke penalty she was clearly outside the cut and would miss the weekend.

Cindgada is known to be a slow player and has been assessed slow play penalties in the past. She indicated in a statement she felt she was being singled out. My opinion is that she was given a warning, then told she was on the clock and given her past experience I would have thought she would have been aware of how fast she needed to pick up her pace to guarantee she was under the time allotment.

Rule Issue – Unplayable Ball from a Bunker

On Saturday, Gabby Lopez decided to take an unplayable in a bunker which is allowed; however, she clearly did not know the relief options available to her because she just took relief outside the bunker but not with the stroke and distance option (for one stroke). The rule gives the player 4 options (see diagram below)

It’s clear that Lopez needed to go with Option#1 if she wanted to play outside the bunker for one stroke. She took the option that had a 2-stroke penalty because of where she played from outside the bunker. The television analysts were shocked that Lopez did not have a Rules Official come over and give her the options once she decided to take an unplayable. What I would love to know is if she didn’t know the rule or if she just had a “brain fart” during the competition.

I’m also surprised her caddie didn’t stop Lopez from picking up her ball until they got a rules official over to help discuss her options. The fact that he did not intervene meant either he also didn’t know the rule (and therefore didn’t know to correct what his player was about to do) or he felt his player knew what she was doing so he did not question her actions.

Most of the time, I find it amusing how professionals on the PGA and LPGA call over rules officials for the most common rules (which seems to add to the already long rounds of golf on tour); but if you have the option to have an official walk you through the rule, why not. I’m guessing Lopez will always use a rules official in the future.

Unlike the Cingada situation, Lopez just took her 2-stroke penalty (once informed of her error) and signed her card and moved on to Sunday. I actually think she was motivated to play her best golf. On Sunday Lopez shot a 68 (-3); finishing tied for 3rd with a total score of 277 (7 under par) winning $283,278. And, the T-3 was her best finish this year.

Overall Reaction to the Rules Issues

First, I am very glad the LPGA actually takes actions addressing slow play on tour. I wish the PGA Tour would time more players and have a 2-stroke penalty as the consequence on their tour.

Also, I know that Cingada was “making a stand” by not signing her card but later on social media she stated, “Very poor performance from the LPGA rules official, they don’t understand what professional golf is about, they only look at their stopwatch like if 20 seconds is going to make a difference.” Now that seems like a ridiculous statement given she clearly knew she was on the clock. She takes zero responsibility for her actions. Unfortunately, Cingada’s response does not reflect well on her.

As for Gabby Lopez, I bet she will never forget the options for taking an unplayable from a bunker again!

Five Things I Loved about the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach

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It goes without saying the significance of a women’s major at Pebble Beach. The media has discussed it at great length so that is not the focus of this blog post. This post is just a quick commentary on what I, as an avid golf fan, enjoyed about watching the U.S. Women’s Open this week.

  1. The Course – There is no more beautiful course than Pebble Beach. I always enjoy watching the AT&T Pro Am each year just to see the beautiful views as I sit in my home in the middle of winter on the east course. I think every golfer “knows” the course (even if they have never been to Pebble Beach) just from the broadcast of course for so many years. Here is a flyover of every hole from the USGA.
  2. Reliving My Golf Experience – I had my “bucket list” golf trip to Pebble Beach in 2021 and watching the women play the course and knowing each hole and how I played it made watching the championship that much more enjoyable and exciting for me. My best hole at Pebble Beach was a par on the 6th hole (Par 5) so that hole in particular was fun to watch. But I also remember my friend’s great play on hole #7, and can say with certainty that the cliff on hole 8 (or the Speith hole as it is now known) is really scary when standing by the edge.
  3. Charley Hull’s Charge on Sunday – Corpuz was an example of what many call boring golf meaning “fairways and greens.” Charley Hull gave us the excitement we want on the final day of a major. She was fearless and the number of long putts she made was amazing. Her final round of 66 was just awesome.
  4. The Steller Play of Allisen Corpuz – I do not enjoy seeing a player in the lead blow up. I want them to play their best golf and if someone beats them it’s because the other golfer player better (not because the leader fell apart in the final round). Corpuz played her best golf.
  5. Prime Time Golf – The bonus of having the U.S. Women’s Open on the west coast was that it was prime time coverage. Not only prime time but live coverage!

Overall I really enjoyed this U.S. Women’s Open and I am excited for “major season” to continue with the next golf major from across the pond; which will be the men playing The Open at Royal Liverpool Golf Club July 20 through 23. The Open is the final major for the men but we have two more majors for the women. The Evian Championship July 27 through 30 and the final major of the year will be the Women’s British Open at Walton Heath Golf Club August 10 through 13.

Rose Zhang and Sam Bennett make their Professional Debuts

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After the completion of the NCAA D1 Championships, two notable amateur golfers turned professional. Rose Zhang the #1 female amateur golfer in the world and Sam Bennett the #5 ranked male golfer in the World Amateur Golf Rankings.

Rose Zhang

You cannot call yourself a golf fan if you do not know about Rose Zhang. She won the 2023 Augusta National Women’s Amateur, she has been ranked the #1 female golfer in the world for a record 141 weeks, she has won the D1 Individual NCAA Championship title back-to-back (2022 and 2023). Other notable wins in her amateur career include the U.S. Girls Junior (2021) and the U.S. Women’s Amateur (2020). Her other amateur accomplishments are too long to list.

She had all eyes on her at the LPGA’s Mizuho American Open (at Liberty National in New Jersey where the President’s Cup was held in 2017). How did she do? She WON!!!

It’s incredible that Rose Zhang won her 1st LPGA professional event. Her scores were:

Round One: Tied 12th at 2-under par

Round Two: Tied 4th at 5-under par

Round Three: Leader at 11-under par

Round Four: Tied 1st at 9-under. Won in playoff.

It was an exciting ending for fans (probably very stressful for Zhang) because she was in a playoff against Jennifer Kupcho. Zhang won on the 2nd playoff hole.

It really is remarkable what she has accomplished. The last player to win in her debut on the LPGA was in 1951.

Sam Bennett

Although Sam Bennett was not the #1 amateur in the world; he became an amateur darling with his stellar performance at the 2023 Masters taking home the low amateur honors but more impressive was his T16 (2-under) finish. Of course, he was invited to the Masters as the reigning U.S. Amateur.

Bennett made his professional debut at the Memorial Tournament (notable for being hosted by Jack Nicklaus at his course at Muirfield Village in Ohio). So how did Bennett fare:

Round One: 1-under

Round Two: Even

Round Three: Even

Round Four: Tied 63rd, +12 (an 84 on the last day was not a great finish)

Final Thoughts

Sam Bennett had a very respectable showing for his first PGA Tour event. Just making the cut in your debut on tour would be considered a major accomplishment.

As for Rose Zhang – she has once again shown the golf world what a special golfer she truly is by winning her first professional tournament. Keep an eye on her at the U.S. Women’s Open because she holds the course record (63) at Pebble Beach. And even better is that she is now eligible for The Solheim Cup this fall. I would bet my house on Zhang being a captain’s pick by Stacey Lewis.

September 2021 is Match Play Month – Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup!

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Last week the Curtis Cup, the amateur competition between USA and GB&I (conducted by the USA and R&A), took place. If you missed it and want to watch, it was streamed live on YouTube and is still available. The USA started out poorly but came back with a furry and won seven of the eight singles matches the last day to retain the cup. This is the first time the USA Curtis Cup team has won on European soil since 2008. As a person that enjoys watching match play, this got me really excited for the professional match play events coming in September.

In September we will be treated with The Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. Normally theses events do not fall in the same year, but because of the COVID-19 Pandemic the Ryder Cup did not take place in 2020.

September 4 – 6: The Solheim Cup – How to Watch

There may be ways to stream the coverage online but I could not find it so I am sharing the broadcast information. The Solheim Cup can be viewed (in the USA) on Golf Channel (GC) and NBC. Here is the schedule from the Golf Channel website.

TV schedule: Saturday, Day 1 foursomes and fourballs: 7:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. (GC), 12:30-2:30 p.m. (NBC), 2:30-6 p.m. (GC); Sunday, Day 2 foursomes and fourballs: 7:30 a.m. – noon (GC), noon-1:30 p.m. (NBC), 1:30-6 p.m. (GC); Sunday, Day 3 singles: noon-6 p.m. (GC)

Will the USA Win?

In 2017 it was an exciting cup in Scotland at Gleneagles, it appeared the USA was going to win until Suzanne Peterson made a memorable putt and won the cup for Europe (and then announced her retirement on the green as she celebrated.) Europe won 14 1/2 to 13 1/2.

The USA has a strong team! The number one player in the women’s game, Nelly Korda is playing well and her sister is back too. In 2017 Nelly and her sister Jessica won both their matches so I assume we will see that winning duo again. Overall, with great players and a home field advantage the USA are heavy favorites to win at Inverness in Ohio.

September 24 – 26: The Ryder Cup – How to Watch

According to the Ryder Cup Website, featured matches will be streamed live on the site. The broadcast schedule listed on the Ryder Cup site is as follows:

Friday, Sept. 24GOLF8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 25GOLF8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Saturday, Sept. 25NBC9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 26NBCNoon to 6 p.m.

In 2018 the Ryder Cup was in France and Europe beat the USA 17 1/2 to 10 1/2. Who will win in 2021at Whistling Straits? On paper the USA has the edge but golf analyst’s are questioning if the USA can come together as a “team” given the personality issues (e.g., Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau). I think the men should be able to put aside their egos for one week for the good of the team. The big question, will team Europe do as they have in the past and rise to the occasion and win on US soil?

As they say in broadcasting “stay tuned!”